Sirica, John (Joseph) (1904-1992)

US judge. Becoming chief judge in 1971, he assigned the Watergate burglary case to himself in 1973; during two years, he proceeded to push witnesses and lawyers to reveal the facts until he had effectively brought President Richard Nixon to resign in the face of impeachment.

He was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, the son of an immigrant Italian barber. He graduated from Georgetown Law School in 1926, but tried his hand at boxing before setting up his law practice in Washington, DC. He moved between government law appointments and private practice before being appointed to the Federal bench by President Eisenhower in 1957. He retired from the Federal bench in 1986. Although criticized by some for his often less than judicial manner and methods, he was upheld by the Court of Appeals and became a folk hero of sorts, ‘the Watergate judge’.